The Count's Apprentice
by Princess Zathura
Summary: Riona lived a happy life with her parents until the day of the fire. Now she's alone and on the run from her family's business enemies who want to kill her. All alone in the world, she goes into hiding. But who is this man who says he knew her parents, why is Detective Orcot so suspicious of him, and what part does Fate want her to play in all of this?
1. Heat Wave

**I'm just going to do a general disclaimer, even though nothing much happens: I claim no ownership of any recognizable content.**

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Chapter 1: Heat Wave

Riona awoke in the dead of night to an odd sensation. Beads of sweat poured from her skin and plastered her long, black, hair to her slick, wet, forehead and neck.

"Ugh…" She groaned, picking at her bangs and pushing them to the sides.

"Why does it have to be so hot?" It was late July, and California had been experiencing a massive heat wave. For days, the area's residents had been practically dropping like flies. People had been falling on the streets, left and right. At this point, n one even bothered leaving their homes! But of course, even that course of action had been dangerous. Due to the extremity of the heat, fires had been occurring all over! Wild fires, house fires, kitchen fires, ECT the list was endless! Then again, not all of those were accidents. Gangs, punks, even the average kid just playing a stupid prank, or purposefully getting revenge. Because the streets were deserted, it was the perfect time for them to strike. No one was safe.

Riona rolled to the side, causing her to accidentally fall off of the side of the bed, and reluctantly welcomed the cool carpeting.

"Ow…" She groaned, pushing her face deeper into the soft flooring. Her bed was two and one half feet off of the ground, and that wasn't the best thing to fall off of when you're still half asleep.

"… Why do I feel cold now?" She muttered, rolling over onto her drenched back. Oh, how she longed for rain! This drought had gone on long enough.

"… Water…" Riona uttered, willing for her eyes to open so she could simply get up and walk to the bathroom. Riona yawned, stretched, and pried her eyes open. She was glad that it was summer vacation, but did it really have to be summer? At least the school's air conditioning system worked properly, unlike the one that resided in her elaborate suburban mansion. Oh, no. Even though her family was among the wealthiest in the country, they were still last on the list.

Finally becoming annoyed with doing nothing, which was getting her absolutely nowhere, she slowly forced herself into a sitting position. Riona's limbs felt heavy, and in the time that she had been sitting on the floor, she was sure that somehow, her brain had gone numb.

"My foot's asleep…" She mumbled, yawning loudly. Riona grabbed the edge of her bed, and using the sheets, she hoisted herself up.

"Ouch…" She groaned, standing so that the blood in her leg could circulate freely. After waiting for a few seconds, Riona finally regained the feeling in her lower body, and stood without support. She moved slowly and silently to the door. Since she was up anyway, she might as well go down to the kitchen. Besides, once she was down there, she could probably stick her head in the freezer.

Mentally agreeing with the idea wholeheartedly, Riona reached for the door handle.

"Ouch!" She screeched, pulling away abruptly. Well **that** woke her up. Riona briefly examined her burnt fingertips, and then the doorknob before letting out a huge sigh. It probably just heated up due to the son shining on it all day; it was in line with the window after all. Taking no consideration of the fact that the blinds had been closed all day, or that her room faced west. She dismissed all of these contradicting thoughts, and walked to her private bathroom and wet a small washcloth. She cautiously put it to the doorknob. This time, instead of being burned again, she only felt a small tingling sensation. Sighing in brief content, Riona opened the door. As soon as she did though, she heard a loud, high-pitched scream.

"Mom!" She called, instinctively moving toward the noise, but before she could go any further, she jumped back. In front of her stood a gigantic wall of fire. Riona gasped,

"Not here too!" Her family had received a notice the previous week that both of their vacation homes had burned to the ground. Of course this was done on purpose, and the police were still investigation. No suspects were in custody as of yet.

This was bad. Riona's mind was racing, she had to get out, she had to call the police, she needed to get help, and she needed to find her parents!

Riona backed up as far from the door as possible, and as human as well as animalistic survival skills would suggest, she immediately looked for a way out. She wasn't going out the front, or the back, obviously. Most likely, she wouldn't be able to find the phone, and call the police. Her only options were the balcony, or one of the two windows in her room.

Panicking as the flames licked her bedroom's carpet, Riona turned and flung open the French doors and ran outside. The air was sticky and hot. Riona looked out over the rail. It was a long way down…

"Help!" She cried, but to no avail. The nearest house was too far away!

"Help!" She cried a second time, but once again, her cries fell up deaf ears. Riona felt tears sting her eyes as she turned and saw the roaring fire consume her bedroom. Billowing towers of smoke arose from the open windows and suffocated her through the open French doors as if it were a signal of some sort… Perhaps of a volcano about to blow. Faintly, much to her relief, she heard the steadily growing sound of emergency sirens coming toward her. Looking down, Riona realized how far away the bushes below were from her current position, but in her state of panic, she feared that help wouldn't arrive in time, and by the rate that the fire was spreading, that she would burn to death before they arrived. So, she took what seemed to be her only option. Riona sat on the balcony's rail, and swung her legs over the edge. Slowly lowering herself until she could feel the marble base beneath her feet. She was sure that she was going to break a bone or two, most likely in her legs if she fell right. It didn't help at all that she wasn't wearing shoes, since she didn't even think about them until she got outside, and found herself there. Oh well, it was too late now. Riona closed her eyes, and prepared herself, reluctantly for the fall and impact. Before she jumped, however, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye, and turned back to her room. Squinting, and holding her breath to avoid the smoke, Riona spotted her lava lamp that she had left on as a nightlight, just in case she needed to get up and had to light her way. The fire was drawing dangerously near to the cord. The problem was, it wasn't just that one. There were several electronics attached to that particular outlet. Her eyes widened as the fire climbed up the wooden cabinet that stood in front of the outlet and it burned. The fire moved back further, and that was it. She didn't have any more time to waste, she had to jump!

Riona turned, but before she could make the leap, she heard a somewhat disturbing noise and turned to see what it was. It was the lava lamp, it was sitting on top of a shelf, and the fire was almost upon it. Just as she finally jumped, the fire reached both the outlet and the lava lamp, causing her room to burst into flames and then finally let out a disastrous explosion, knocking out the poor girl before she hit the ground.

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So, what'd ya think? Please review and give me ideas.


	2. The Hospital

**_Hehe... Wow, I didn't think that many people would like my new story so fast! It makes me happy! 8D_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own anything._**

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_Cold… That was the only word that described how she felt at that moment. And it wasn't just physical. She felt it deep inside of her soul. Something was wrong… But what?_

Riona was vaguely aware of the world around her. She could feel, just barely, a deep, painful throbbing that shot out through her lower body. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry out, but found that she couldn't. Her mind was foggy, her throat, dry, and as she soon found out, her body wasn't responding to her brain's directions and commands. Around her, she could hear voices, but of which gender, she couldn't identify. What was it that they were talking about? Burns? Fire? Fire… Fire! Suddenly, she felt herself thrown back in her bedroom, panicking. She ran to the balcony, the fire was almost upon her… An explosion… She jumped…

_'Mom, Dad… No…!' _

"She's crashing!" One of the many doctors in the room, whom of which had been monitoring her behavior since Riona was entered into the hospital.

_'What's going on?'_

"What do you mean, "she's crashing"?! DO SOMETHING!!!"

"We're doing our best, sir."

"Get the panels!"

"Damn right!"

"I'm sorry sir, but you're going to have to leave!"

"**HELL** no! What's wrong with her?!"

"Sir-!

"It's **"Detective"**, now tell me what's going on with her!!"

"_'Detective'_, there's obviously a problem, and we're doing our absolute best to fix whatever is wrong, but in the meantime, you have to leave the room or I'll be forced to call security and have them 'escourt' you out of the building!"

Reluctantly, the detective, Leon Orcot, withdrew from the room and into the lobby.

"Are you alright Detective?" Came a voice from seemingly nowhere, "this is the last place that I would ever expect to see you." Orcot recognized this voice as one belonging to a familiarly irritation acquaintance of his. The detective mentally groaned as he turned to face the owner of the voice.

"What do you want, D? Can't you see that I'm in the middle of a criminal investigation right now?"

"My, aren't you a bit irritable today, Detective. If you must know, I'm here visiting the daughter of an old acquaintance of mine. I heard that they had been the victims of a fire, so I came here to offer my condolences." The blonde detective gave a look of suspicion to the Chinese man before him. There was something wrong about him, although he couldn't put his finger on it, he just had a gut feeling. He had been on the Count's case for years now, throwing every type of accusation possible that fit his particular case at the man, but no no avail. From drug trafficing, to slave trade; nothing ever stuck.

"Well I just happen to be working on a case with a girl that fits that exact description, so what is this girl's name?"

"Riona Annchester, is she the same?" That was the trigger.

"Ah ha! I knew it! You're always a part of my case! So how'd ya do it this time, D? Fixed gas leak? I bet you trained one of those animals to do it, didn't you?"

"My, whatever do you mean, dear Detective?"

"That poor family probably bought a pet from you too, didn't they?"

"I regret to say that they did nothing of the sort. Mr. Annchester was an acquaintance of mine. He had helped me during the time I had been held hostage by a native tribe in the heart of the Amazon." Orcot was paying no attention, he was busy pondering a small bit of information. Usually no one could determine the Count's gender by a first glance, and at the moment, by the way that he was unconsciously nipping at the tips of his manicured nails, the somewhat confused detective was sure that no one in the world would be able to tell the difference.

"Whatever, just stay away from the girl until I've closed the investigation. She's been through enough and the last thing she needs is for you to slip something in her food or something similar, got it?"

"Clear as crystal, detective."

"Good, now if you'll excuse me, I've got to check on her before we lose our only witness, not to mention this case!" Leon, making sure not to run into the nurse from earlier, made his way to Riona's room. If this girl died, then he'd never have a chance to catch the kid who kept setting these fires. In truth, he could care less about some punk setting fires around town, as long as they didn't cross him, but according to the Cheif, these last few attacks seemed to have a pattern, meaning that they were planned. The more recent attacks had all been focused around the Annchester family. Their summer home, their winter home, and the others as well. At first, it seemed random, but then they ound that they were related. People who had any type of connection to the Annchester family in the area, mysteriously had fires simultaneously break out in their homes. No one on the police force had figured it out then, but as they could clearly see now, it was all part of a well-thought out plot. After the first attacks, his squad had been guarding the main house against intruders. It had been a part of his job to know anything and everything about the family. The father, John Annchester, was a successful businessman who had founded his own eco-friendly company.

Now that he thought about it a bit more, it was no wonder that the old man knew the Count! Leon let out an exasperated sigh, if they had security guarding the room this time-! Oh, where was Jill when you actually needed her? She could do the explaining, and there'd be no problem getting the information he needed. Then again, he could just get Jill and come back in the morning. Then he'd be sure to have all of the bases covered! No wait... no. The Count. He had forgotten all about the fact that the Count was there. Who knew what he had in store for the girl? No... he had to stay there and watch the room, just in case the Count tried anything the second he wasn't looking. Knowing and being familiar with Count D's influence on people, Leon just knew that as soon as he moved, D would find some way into the girl's room, and the next anyone knew, she'd be dead, and the Count would in no way be held responsible. It was his duty as a police officer to stay there and convict the guilty party (A.K.A. The Count) as soon as they made a move.

Shaking off these troubling throughts, Leon stopped as he found himself pacing and took a look back at the room. He didn't hear anything, so he was guessing that everything was okay now. Not wanting to miss the chance because who knew whom it'd be gone, Orcot approached the room. The nurse he had met earlier was dismissing security on patrol, so now was the perfect time.

"Excuse me," spoke the detective, "is it okay to go in now?" The nurse scowled, but made no move to call the guards back.

"I'm sorry sir, but visiting hours are almost over. I'm afraid that you're going to have to come back _**tomorrow**_." The nurse said, making a point. Leon cringed, he had to stay calm, he had to keep his head. If he blew his top now, then he really would be forced to come back the next day, and a lot could happen in the time between now and then.

The nurse was a stern-looking, young Asian woman. Somewhere in her twenties, Leon figured. If he weren't so busy, then he might've tried to flirt with her.

"Please! I need to talk to her before it's too late! What if her heart stops tomorrow?!" I need to talk to her now!" The nurse sighed,

"You seem to really care, unlike the rest of those cops." Leon twitched. Was she out of her mind?

"Alright, go in. But you only have half an hour, got it? After that, I'm going home!" She held the door open for him and stood outside as he muttered his thanks to her.

Leon took a look at the girl on the bed. According to what he had heard from the doctors earlier, she had sprained her left ankle, but the bone in her right was shattered. Her left arm was fine except for a few fractures in her fingers. She was going to be sore for a while. Besides that, she was lucky to still be alive. She had some scare and burns on her back, meaning that she hadn't been completely able to escape the flames. Thankfully, though, they hadn't been life-threatening. Although he hadn't been able to see them firsthand, the burn scars that were there seemed to make a decorative design on her skin if you looked at it right. These scars weren't going to go away, but if she wanted when she grew up, she could get it colored and and turn it into a tattoo. The detective chuckled at the thought, at least she got something good from this whole ordeal. Shaking his head to get rid of these further unnecessary thoughts, Leon put his hand on the girls shoulder and gently shook her. He was glad they hadn't put her in a coma for treatment, if they had, then he'd be having even more trouble having to get the nurse to wake her up and then there'd be a huge conflict... It wouldn't have been pleasant. Either way, he was going to regret waking her, but he needed to know.

"Miss?"

Deep inside her subconscious, Riona was in her own little world. There, her parents were still alive, the air conditioning was working, and everything was perfect...

_'Riona! Don't run around inside the house!' She was only two years younger... She had been running around the house for hours; her mom was chasing her, trying to get her to stop. _

_'But it's fun!' she rounded a corner and ran straight into her father as he was coming home..._

_'Then at least take your socks off first!' Her father cried, picking her up, pulling her into a hug._

_'Daddy, you're home!' Her mother breathed a sigh of belief._

_'And what's all this about?'_

_'Your daughter needs to start drinking decaf.'_

_'You gave her coffee?' He asked, raising an eyebrow. Riona giggled,_

_'Yep!'_

_'... you gave her coffee?'_

_'Big mistake, I know.'_

_'... You gave her coffee?'_

_'John?'_

_'You gave **her** coffee?'_

_'I think we've established our point.' He looked at the girl in his arms,_

_'And did you like it?'_

_'Not really.'_

_'For your mother's sake, let's keep it that way.' He said, setting her down. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she took off. His wife set off after her,_

_'Riona, Stop!' Riona was at the top at the stairs by now,_

_'Catch me if you can!' Suddenly, she felt a pain in her chest. Riona let out a gasp for breath, but getting no air. Her heart stopped beating and she fell from the top of the stairs..._

_'Riona!'_

_'Riona!'_

"Riona...!"

Said girl's eyes shot open,

"Mom!" Leon removed his hand from her shoulder and looked at her,

"Riona, do you know where you are?"

"... No, who are you?" Her voice was rough, but what could you expect?

"I'm a detective, do you remember what happened?" She nodded,

"Riona, I'm going to ask you one question. Have you ever had contact with a man who goes by the name of 'Count D'?" He asked, taking a picture out of his pocket and showing it to her. Riona's vision was blurred by tears as she remembered everything that had happened and came into reality.

"Riona, this is very important. Have you seen him?" She blinked the tears from her eyes and shook her head.

"Are you sure?" She nodded. That was it, that was all it took. He would ask one more time in the morning, until then, he was convinced that D wouldn't hurt her, at least not yet. But he'd keep an eye out, if he had to, he'd call security back himself to guard the room.

"That's all I needed, I'll be back to talk in the morning, until then, go back to sleep, Rio." Her eyes closed, gently.

_'Rio...?'_

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**This took me a long time to write! I had most of it written already, I've just been too lazy to type it... Oh well, that's what Saturdays are for in my little world.**


	3. Sunday Mornings

_**Disclaimer: I don't own. **_

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**Sunday Mornings**

'_Rio…?'_

She had spent all night pondering on the name the detective had called her by.

_'Rio…'_ Her father had called her that… It was a simple nickname, nothing they had to spend hours coming up with, and it certainly wasn't anything that Riona herself had to sit there for hours and think about.

There were people around her, she could tell without opening her eyes. Doctors, nurses, police, the press… She had anticipated them. After all, "Rich Family in Fire! Daughter Only Survivor!", that could be the most advertised headline across the nation. Riona, wanting to keep the rouse that she was asleep, held in a sigh. They were being so loud. The doctors were arguing with the police, the police were yelling at the press; the only ones who were quiet were the doctor changing the IV drip, and the person sitting next to her! That was it, she couldn't take it anymore! She could hear it all, it was just needless noise!

"WOULD IT KILL YOU ALL TO JUST SHUT UP!?!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, sitting up straight. Immediately, the room went silent and everyone froze. Realizing how loud she had just spoken, she muttered a small 'thank you' then started to remember her manners.

"I'm sorry, but you were all being too loud. Especially when someone is trying to sleep…" The police in the room took advantage of the brief distraction and quickly ushered the rest of the press out of the room, locking them out. Riona blinked,

"Am I out of line?" To her surprise, it wasn't any of the officers in the room who answered; it was whomever it was who had been sitting next to her who spoke,

"No, not at all." Riona turned her head to the side and looked at the man who answered... at least she thought he was a man, judging from the sound of his voice. He didn't look the part at all.

"HEY!!!" Came a loud cry as another man, this one, she recognized as the detective from the previous night, stood from this chair in the corner.

"D, I said your could be in here as long as you made no contact with the witness until the investigation was over!"

"Or I'm personally supervised by you, is that correct, Detective?" Said detective scowled,

"I guess that's what I said…"

"And aren't you here, supervising me?"

"Don't get smart with me, D! I swear that one of these days, you're going to screw up and as soon as you do, I'll be the one bringing you in!"

"I assure you that I wouldn't have it any other way." The poor, quiet, confused girl sitting on the bed in an oblivious trance was ignoring the 'argument' as well as everyone and everything around her. She was busy trying to get a hold on reality. Her parents… they couldn't be… dead?

No… It was impossible… This was all just a bad dream…

"Rio!" Detective Orcot shouted, attempting to get the girl's attention for the millionth time.

"Huh?"

"I asked you a question!" She blinked,

"What?"

"Do you want to Count to stay or should I make him leave?" He said the last part with the eagerness clear in his voice.

"Who?"

"The Count!" Orcot pointed to the man next to her.

"Oh he's just fine as he is…" She muttered absentmindedly.

"Are you 'sure'?" He asked, his hope fading.

"Uh-huh…"

"Positive?"

"Sure…"

"Are you-!"

"Leon, that's enough!" A woman yelled, pushing past the last of the press as one of the nurses allowed her in.

"But Jill!"

"She's obviously made up her mind, so just drop it! I know you aren't very fond of the late Count D, but he's the only friend she has right now." Ending the conversation, Jill looked over to Riona and asked,

"Are you feeling alright? I know that all of this must be tough for you." Riona snapped out of her trance and blinked once again in confusion.

"Wait a second… What did I just agree to again?" Leon gaped at her and made a move to protest, but was stopped by the sound of Jill's laughter.

"What?"

"It's noting that you need to worry about," the Count next to her spoke. Rio turned to look at him,

"Hey, you're the person from the picture the detective showed me…"

"Repeat that?" Jill questioned. Leon, suddenly alarmed, ran his hand in a saw-like motion across his throat, signaling for the girl to keep quiet, but it was too late.

"My dear detective, you were concerned enough to show her my picture before I came to visit?" D inquired, smiling innocently. Jill turned and smacked Leon in the face.

"Ow, hey! What did I do?"

"What do you mean, 'what did I do?'" You showed a little girl a photo of the Count, right after her more than traumatic experience just because of your little obsession with convicting him for no reason, didn't you?!" Leon backed away from his enraged partner.

"Now Jill…"

"Leon, you're putting your own carrier in jeopardy!" Riona coughed, drawing all attention to her.

"Um… I'm sorry?" She apologized, not knowing what else to do. Finally remembering the child in the room, Jill blushed and waved dismissively.

"Oh don't' apologize! We're just going to go talk in the hallway for a minute, we'll be right back, okay?" She quickly pushed Leon out of the room and closed the door behind them. Riona blinked a few times, still confused.

"Did I…?" The Count shook his head and offered her a gift basket that had been brought in by one of her father's associates. She refused the basket and lay back down.

"You can keep it if you want," she examined her surroundings. "In fact, if you would like, you can take them all." She said, referring to the multitude of baskets that littered the floor.

"Why? You don't want them?" The Count questioned, eyeing a specific basket filled to the brim with a batch of gourmet cookies.

"No… I guess I don't need them…"

"Very well then."

"Um... Excuse me…?"

"Call me 'D'." Riona nodded,

"The ones you don't want… Could you give them to the other children in the hospital?"

"Of course." He smiled; she was just like with her father.

Jill returned to the room,

"Well I talked to your doctor, and he said that you'll be well enough to be discharged tomorrow!" Riona nodded again,

"Miss Jill?"

"Just call me 'Jill'."

"Jill, since there's no next of kin, what's going to happen to me?" Jill paused,

"Well…"

"And handing me over to social services would be a mistake since I'm now the owner of my father's company and I'm inheriting everything of his." Jill wracked his brain.

"I guess you're right… I guess you'll just have to hang out with us at the station until we figure out what we can do!" Riona looked at her, skeptically.

"I'll tell you what, I'll take you out for ice cream tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright." She wasn't all that excited but did her best to act the part. Jill smiled,

"That's good, we'll have lots of fun, you'll see! Oh, and the Count can come along two if he would like." Riona turned to him, suddenly a pleading look in her eyes. In truth, she didn't care either way, but after seeing how these two 'cops' interacted with each other, being left alone with them seemed like a form of torture! She needed someone at least partially sane, and the closest person just so happened to be the Count.

"I'd be delighted. After all, the thought of this poor girl forced between you and the detective simply horrifies me." Jill blushed, embarrassed, and ran out of the room.

"… Does she really…?"

"Who knows," D said, getting up to take his leave. "It was very nice to see you again, Riona." Although still completely confused, Riona nodded and watched as he carefully selected and picked up one of the gift baskets before he finally left.

She was alone. No sooner after the thought crossed her mind did she realize what it truly meant. Her parents were gone… As if they had left on a trip without her, only, they were never coming back.

Riona reached back and lightly touched the scars left by the fire.

_'I could've died… I __**should've**__ died.'_ She closed her eyes as she felt a sudden pain in her chest. The machines around her went off and the sound of blaring sirens attacked the girl's ears. Several of the finest doctors rushed into the room, unaware of what possibly could've gone wrong, but it was too late to diagnose the situation, for the girl on the bed had long since gone into cardiac arrest.

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Yeah, I'm bored. I didn't bother reading this one over since I'm supposed to be working on the rest of my history project, but anyway, read and review.


	4. Dream of Lost Memories: Recalled to Life

Ever have one of those days where you're just so bored you finally clean out your room just to find something to do?

... no?

Well I did. And I found my notebook. This is apparently all I had written the last time I had even thought of this story. I seriously forgot I'd written this.

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Chapter 4: To Dream of Lost Memories

_Running… Running… _

"_Reina-chan, don't run from us!"_

"_Reina-chan, stop!" She wouldn't stop running. She couldn't stop. She didn't even know why or where to… She had no control of her body. She ran as fast as her short legs could take her. The air rushed and swirled angrily around her, stinging her eyes and before she knew it, she was all alone._

"_I… I'll be safe here…" She heard a high-pitched voice whisper. Looking around, she realized that no one else was around to have spoken… Had she… Had she been the one to speak? Where was she? What was going on? Why did she feel so short?_

"_Where am I?" She felt her lips moving that time as she took in the sight of a war torn land. Korea…_

'_I remember this place…'_

_She looked down at herself. Her clothes were torn, and covered with dirt. She brought a hand up and could already feel the knots in her hair. _

'_No… Not again…'_

_She matched the landscape. Alone, in the middle of what looked to have once been a village, the young girl raised her head high and turned to walk confidently in hopes of finding civilization. After what seemed like hours the girl finally decided to stop and rest for the night._

'_I fell asleep…'_

"She's stabilizing."

_The next she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by the now familiar whiteness of a hospital room._

"Is she okay?"

"_Where…?" She slowly turned her head and almost cried at the sight before her,_

'_Mom, Dad! This was when I had been adopted… but… how long was I asleep?'_

"She's fine, just sleeping."

_Not in control of her body, she felt herself begin to thrash wildly. She had seen people. People were always a bad sign. She was going to be hurt again. _

'_No! They would never hurt me!'_

"Somebody wake her up! She's having a nightmare."

_The familiar faces of her parents morphed into evil twisted grinning faces._

'_W-wha-?'_

_Her body twisted and she screamed._

"Miss, are you alright?" Riona's ears pricked at the sound of another voice she looked toward a nurse but she saw that face again and screamed once more.

"Miss? Miss! Please calm down!" After blinking a few times, her vision became clearer… What… What had happened?

"Miss, you had a nightmare," the nurse sat down on the edge of the bed. "Would you like to talk about it?" Riona looked up at the nurse before whispering,

"I remember now…" She was shivering. "I was…" She tried to put it into words, "Recalled to life."

The nurse looked at her, confused.

"I dreamt… Of Korea…"


	5. In Plain Sight

**Hehehe... Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it..? PLEASE DON'T KILL ME AT LEAST I UPDATED SOMETHING I'M GIVING UP THIS TIME WHILE I'M SUPPOSED TO BE WRITING MY APPLICATION ESSAYS TO ENTERTAIN MY BELOVED READERS! **

**... Okay so I'm just procrastinating, but at least you're benefiting from it, right?**

******But yeah... I started this story in '08, last updated it two years ago... hehe, I bet "oops" won't cover it.**

**Oh, and about last chapter, that was a fever dream. Kinda like seeing your life flash before your eyes, for Rio. Her memories pretty much racing at her at high speed, not like she remembered much anyway.**

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**_In Plain Sight_**

Riona sat quetly, attempting to familiarize herself with a type of burning emptiness she felt in light of her, now missing, ring. Her father had given it to her when she had turned twelve and it signified her place in her father's company. She missed it. It was a sign of who she was. And now it was gone. Not gone forever, of course, just locked in a vault until the case was solved or she was old enough to take over the company herself.

As of that morning, the deaths of Leonard and Patricia Nightingale had been ruled a homicide and Riona had been declared a victim of attempted murder. Such wonderful news definitely did not make Riona want to leave the safety of her hospital room, where it would be near impossible to make her death look like an accident, for an ice cream parlor downtown.

Because there was no such thing as an unsolved murder in the city.

It was terrifying, knowing that someone, somewhere, had killed who she had known as the most wonderful people in the world. And now they were after her.

Jill observed the girl across from her. She had thought that taking her out for ice cream might cheer her up a bit.

'_A stupid idea_', she thought to herself. '_Because ice cream will make up for her parents being murdered._' Speaking of ice cream, she noticed that Riona hadn't touched hers at all.

"Is something the matter, Song?"

It took Riona a moment to process the words that had come out of Jill's mouth. Song. Yes, that was her name now.

* * *

"What? You don't like it?" Jill had asked. "Leon here picked it out for you." She didn't even have to say it. Just the proud look plastered on her partner's face said it all. Riona, being taught better, didn't say anything, though it seemed as if they had just tried to pick out the least racist name in the Asian section of the baby naming book.

* * *

"It's nothing , really." 'Song' looked up from trying to melt her ice cream with her eyes. "The atmosphere is just a little… thick." Indeed it was, Jill had to agree. Beside the girls sat Leon and the Count respectively. The former was occupying his time by glaring daggers into the Chinese man while said pet shop owner was calmly eating his ice cream, the throbbing vein in his forehead barely covered by his hair. Jill sighed,

"I'm sorry. Maybe we shouldn't have brought Leon with." The blond jumped,

"Me?" he cried with alarm. "I'm only here to protect her from this-" he pointed his spoon at the Count "-freak! He'll probably kidnap her and sell her in some underground slave trade!" Count D, who had finished his ice cream, gently put his hand on Riona's shoulder,

"How rude of you, Detective. I agreed to come here today because this poor girl needed a friend in this world and you are too much of a bad influence to be around her. Now Song, dear, you see the detective?" The girl, who had finally started to eat her ice cream now that she could no longer feel Jill's eyes boring a hole in her skull, turned her attention to Leon, and with her spoon still in her mouth, she nodded.

"Good, pay close attention to every detail. This is precisely the type of person you should not "hang out" with. Unkept, slovenly-"

"Quick to anger with mildly violent outbursts." She took her spoon out of her mouth. "The "Loner" type although he craves attention and recognition for his deeds. Strongly dedicated with a one track mind. Pushes those closest to him away. Commitment issues. And secret feelings for Jill…?" Leon's face was now a lovely shade of red, though Riona could not tell whether if was from embarrassment or anger. Though his eyes never left the Count so it did not worry her much. Said Chinese man laughed merrily at the detective while Jill was staring strangely at Leon. Taking the time to rethink her analysis, she added,

"Though his obsession with you may prove otherwise, Count." And then all was quiet. All attention at the table was on her. She could tell both Leon and the Count wanted to say something but didn't want to hurt the girl due to her fragile mental state, but she could feel them staring and tried to hide her face by casting her eyes down at her ice cream, using her spoon to try and carve a face into the chocolate mountain.

Leon shifted in his seat, Jill's nails were digging into his leg, forcing him to keep his opinions to himself. The look she was giving him was just screaming "shut up and let me do the talking". He would have another go at the Count later. He should pull his gun on him for just touching the girl.

"Well, Count, we really should be going. It was nice of you to come with us, for Song's sake. We'll just head back and set her up with a place to stay for the night." The Count scoffed,

"And let me guess, our dear detective is going to watch over her?" Leon ignored the pain in his leg and growled out,

"So what if I am?"

"Oh, it's nothing really, it's just that you couldn't even watch over Christopher, what makes you think you can properly care for a little girl?"

"Don't bring Chris into this, I don't even know what horrors he went through."

"Yes, I tortured him into speaking."

"Is that a confession?"

"Detective, you really are too much."

"I don't think Leon'll do that bad." Jill, spoke up, withdrawing her nails.

"Even with this case, he'll still be too obsessed with trying to close down my shop to focus, let alone take care of the girl. The detective can barely interact with adults let along children."

"You think you can do better?"

"I believe your brother was proof enough."

"Then it's settled!" Jill suddenly cried. "Thanks for volunteering, Count. Song will stay with you."

"Excuse me," the Count tried to protest.

"We'll be over later with a few belongings, of course since Leon is so fond of checking in on you and everyone is accustomed to his constant presence in Chinatown he will be over from time to time to make sure she's safe or he'll be around for surveillance." Jill finished up her ice cream. "Isn't this great, Song? It'll be like you're in witness protection." Riona looked to the Count, who looked rather pale, to Leon who didn't seem like he could chose between feeling triumphant or dissatisfied with the whole situation. The Count's grip on her shoulder was almost painful, but she didn't mind if it made him feel better. She could tell already that this wasn't going to end well.

'And it all goes downhill from here.'

* * *

**And if you're interested, check out my twitter StorytellerPZ to see what I'm up to.**


	6. Outburst

**Outburst**

* * *

This was a bad idea. Well, no. "bad" was nowhere near strong enough of a word. Terrible; horrible, maybe. And Riona made sure to voice her thoughts as soon as she and Jill were alone.

"You can't be serious."

Jill sighed, "I know Leon isn't fond of the Count, but that doesn't mean he isn't a great guy."

"That's not what I mean…" Riona was trying her hardest to be nice. "I don't mean to be rude, really, and it's not that I don't trust your judgement, but-" Jill cut her off.

"If this is about what Leon said about the Count, don't worry. Leon's just made because the Count has bested him once or twice."

"Jill!" The woman paused from her work to stare at the teen. Riona pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. "My parents were murdered. My house was burned down. I am worth millions of dollars dead or alive, and you are literally shoving me in the least guarded place that you can think of!" Tears formed in her eyes, "I don't want to die, Jill!" Jill rose from her chair and embraced the poor girl, but Riona pushed her away. In seconds she was back to her usual apathetic self. Her eyes blank as she gave a small bow.

"I'm sorry for my outburst, that was out of line."

"Oh, Rio, please, I didn't know-"

"My name is Song now." With one hand she fingered her hair. She supposed it was time to get it cut.


End file.
